Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty, and one of the many supporting characters in the God of War series. Greek Mythology In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of Love, Beauty, Seduction, Pleasure, and Happiness. There is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus's genitals and threw them into the sea, and she arose from the sea foam (aphros). According to Homer's Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Because of her beauty, other gods feared that their rivalry over her would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who, because of his ugliness and deformity, was not seen as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers - both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. One day, the sun god Helios caught Ares and Aphrodite in their affair. When he told Hephaestus, the smith god decided to plan his revenge. He created an invisible net, which he set over the marriage bed. No sooner had Hephaestus left their home, that Aphrodite called her lover and Ares snuck into the house and in bed with the naked goddess; but, just in the midst of their lovemaking, the net fell upon the two lovers, trapping and immobilizing them, locked in a very private embrace. Hephaestus immediately walked back to his bedchamber with a host of other gods and exhibited them as they were naked and wrapped in each other's arms. Her Roman equivalent is Venus. In the God of War Series God of War Aphrodite appeared in the first game in the city of Athens, presenting one of the tasks Kratos must pass: killing Medusa by decapitating her, and using her gaze as a weapon. Once the task is complete Kratos must then use the gaze to turn a few minotaurs into stone. She then allows Kratos to pass and continue his quest. God of War III Aphrodite was seen in bed, with her handmaidens, but when she sees Kratos, she tells them to leave. She attempts to seduce Kratos, telling him, "Even though you are no longer the God of War, you can still share my bed." But Kratos was not amused. Annoyed, she reveals how she yearns for a "real man" to meet her, but since Zeus refused to let the imprisoned Daedalus finish the bridge, she has not had her wish granted and she expressed how much she dislikes Hephaestus. That's when she realizes that Kratos needs those bridges fixed and tells him that she might give him information only if Kratos pleases her (he must have sex with her). If he does, Kratos would be given Red Orbs. While having sex with her, the handmaidens say Kratos has "such power" and later they begin making love, as well. Aphrodite wanted Kratos to have sex with her again, but an impatient Kratos refused. Irritated, Aphrodite tells Kratos to go to Hephaestus for help instead. It is unknown if Aphrodite or her handmaidens were able to escape the palace when Gaia's giant corpse destroyed all of Olympus. Powers and Abilities As the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite possessed many powers. *'Astral Projection:' She was able to communicate with Kratos in God of War through a magical image of her face in a doorway. *'Beauty Embodiement:' Aphrodite's beauty was spellbinding, such that even Kratos could not bring himself to attack her. *'Beauty Inducement:' She could also cause others to become beautiful. *'Immortality': Aphrodite is an immortal, as she cannot die through natural causes or weapons that can easily kill a mortal. Only other gods, divine weapons or other immortals, can probably harm her. *'Amokinesis:' Aphrodite attracts both men and women naturally through her presence and/or by her will. **'Love inducement:' Aphrodite could cause other beings to fall in love with one another. *'Power Bestowel:' Aphrodite granted Kratos the ability to wield Medusa's gaze. *'Shapeshifting:' A small alteration to her appearance in God of War III is that Aphrodite has auburn hair, rather than the blond hair in God of War, implying that she too can alter her appearance. *'Telepathy:' Aphrodite was able to perceive Kratos' mind when he encountered her. None of the other Olympians displayed this ability like she did. This implies that, as she is the Goddess who oversees strong emotions such as love, this allows her to see into people's minds. Personality She seems to have a very carefree, yet promiscuous outlook on life. In fact, the only thing she cares about is having sex, and is actively neutral in the war Kratos is waging against the gods. This promiscuous nature seems more to do with the fact that she is the Goddess of Love, Beauty, Sexuality and Procreation, than it does with the opening of Pandora's Box.But after it was opened,the evils Lust/Vanity completely took possession of her which made the already sexloving goddess even more promiscuous than ever indeed. She loves making love rather than do anything else. Her only benchmark, it seems, for having intercourse with someone is whether or not she finds the man attractive enough to sleep with her. It is implied by her handmaidens that she is difficult to fully please sexually, due to her having so much experience in the matter (it's also most likely that she prefers having sexual intercourse with men, but since the bridges were nearly destroyed the only way to please her were her handmaidens). She was surprised when Kratos is able to nearly make her lose her composure with his own experience. Appearance Aphrodite is considered to be flawlessly pretty. Aphrodite has long, auburn hair kept in a braid and pale blue eyes. Though she has in this new lifetime hazel brown eyes, hiding the pale blue that truly is her eye-color. Her body can be considered "perfect" since she is the Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Sexuality. She wears a revealing dress that exposes her perfectly sized and formed breasts (most likely to sexually appeal to mortals) and is barefoot. Trivia *Aphrodite is voiced by Carole Ruggier in God of War and April Stewart in God of War III. *Aphrodite had a strong romantic relationship with Ares in Greek mythology, mainly because she found his violent nature appealing. Since Kratos was more savage than Ares ever was, this may be what attracted Aphrodite to Kratos in the first place. *Aphrodite is one of the very few gods not killed by Kratos, and one of very few to admire him. *Director Stig Asmussen revealed in an interview that originally, before being scrapped, the idea would be when trying to do the sex mini-game a second time, the camera would pan out. A record-scratching sound would then occur, and the camera would pan back to the bed. Aphrodite would then try to kill Kratos with the daggers hanging over the bed, initiating a quicktime-event to boot her down into Hades. It was however re-enforced that she would not be murdered. *While Aphrodite is the goddess of love, desire, and sex, her over-the-top promiscuity is likely caused by the evils Vanity/Lust being unleashed from Pandora's Box which made her even more thirsty for sex. Because she is the extremely beautiful goddess of sex,the evils Lust/Vanity easily possessed her. Her sexdrive became even more intense than ever. This is likely the case since Aphrodite behaved quite differently in God of War, becoming involved in Kratos' quest rather than thinking only about sex. *Aphrodite appeared in the God of War II game booklet as one the gods who appear in the game, though she actually doesn't. *In the ''God of War'' novel, Aphrodite is revealed to be the mother of twins, named Zora and Lora, whom Kratos encounters on the ship to Athens. *In the Japanese version, Aphrodite and her Handmaidens aren't topless. *It is unknown why Aphrodite helped Kratos by bestowing the power of Medusa's Gaze upon him, as she had a relationship with Ares, the being Kratos wished to slay. **It is likely that Aphrodite helped Kratos because Ares was a threat to Olympus. This indicates that the Goddess had a more noble side, at least before Pandora's Box was opened. Afterwards, she cared only about sex as the evils Lust/Vanity completely took possession of her flawlessly beautiful body.As a result,she became nothing more but a beautiful sexfreak goddess. *In the God of War series, Aphrodite is shown as a daughter of Zeus. However, in the original mythology, she was born from Ouranos when his genitalia was thrown at the sea, making her, in fact, the half-sister of some Titans and Zeus' aunt. **It is likely that she is a daughter of Zeus with his consort, Dione in God of War universe. Sex Mini-Game *http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/28255 *http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xclw2f_god-of-war-3-sex-mini-game_videogames Gallery 250px-Aphrodite.jpg Aphrodite.JPG Untitled 116.png|Aphrodite speaking to Kratos in God of War 210632cluj2.png 614 stream.jpg 798 stream (1).jpg|One of Aphrodite's handmaidens. Aph.jpg Aphrodite07.jpg Aphrodite-sketches Izzy.jpg Aphrodite gow.jpg|Aphrodite in Hephaestus' flashback in God of War III. Aphrodite Censored.jpg|Aphrodite in the censored Japanese version of God of War III Untitled 114.png|Aphrodite with her handmaidens God-Of-War-3-Sex-Scene-650x365-1-.jpg Untitled 110.png|Aphrodite and Kratos Untitled 111.png Untitled 112.png Category:Goddesses Category:God of War Category:God of War III Category:Allies Category:Unknown Status Category:Characters